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Multiple laminar flow-based rate zonal or isopycnic separation with holographic optical trapping of blood cells and other static componentsRelated Patent Categories: Liquid Purification Or Separation, ProcessesMultiple laminar flow-based rate zonal or isopycnic separation with holographic optical trapping of blood cells and other static components description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070114172, Multiple laminar flow-based rate zonal or isopycnic separation with holographic optical trapping of blood cells and other static components. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present invention is related to Lewis Gruber et al., U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 10/630,904, filed Jul. 31, 2003, entitled "System and Method of Sorting Materials Using Holographic Laser Steering", commonly assigned herewith, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein, with priority claimed for all commonly disclosed subject matter (the "first related application"). FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to techniques and systems for separation of cellular materials such as blood into its various cellular components and fractions, such as platelets, and more particularly, to a separation of blood or other biological materials into cellular components or other static components using multiple laminar flows and rate zonal or isopycnic separation, which further may be coupled with holographic optical trapping and manipulation. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] There are several categories of blood cells. Erythrocyte or red blood cell (RBC) counts are for women 4.8 million cells/.mu.l and men 5.4 million cells/.mu.l. RBCs make up 93% of the solid element in blood and about 42% of blood volume. Platelets are 2 .mu.m-3 .mu.m in size. They represent 7% of the solid elements in blood and about 3% of the blood volume, corresponding to about 1.5 to 4.times.10.sup.11 cells per liter. There are 5 general types of white blood cells (WBCs) or leukocytes accounting for about 1.5 to 4-10.sup.9 cells per liter. The WBCs comprise: 50-70% Neutrophils (12-15 .mu.m in size); 2-4% Eosinophils (12-15 .mu.m in size); 0.5-1% Basophils (9-10 .mu.m in size); 20-40% Lymphocytes (25% B-cells and 75% T-cells) (8-10 .mu.m in size); and 3-8% Monocytes (16-20 .mu.min size). They comprise 0.16% of the solid elements in the blood, and approximately 0.1% of the blood volume corresponding to around 4 to 12.times.10.sup.9 per liter. A subject with an infection might have a WBC count as high as 25.times.10.sup.9 per liter. [0004] Platelets are the smallest cells in the blood and are important for releasing proteins into the blood that are involved in clotting. Patients with immune diseases that cause lower counts (such as cancer, leukemia and other chemotherapy patients) sometimes need platelet transfusions to prevent their counts from becoming too low. The platelet count in adults is normally between 140,000-440,000 cells/.mu.l, and this number should not fall below 50,000 cells/.mu.L because platelets play an integral role in blood clotting. [0005] Blood separation techniques have traditionally employed discrete centrifugation processes. More particularly, a certain volume of blood is removed from a donor at a particular time. That volume of blood is then subjected to different levels of centrifugation to provide corresponding blood fractions for blood components such as plasma, platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. This process is discrete, rather than continuous, such that if more blood from the donor is to be processed, another volume is removed from the donor, and the process is repeated. [0006] The steps in platelet collection are: collection of blood from donor: addition of anticoagulant; separation via centrifugation; return of red cells, leukocytes and plasma to the donor. A collection normally contains about 200-400 ml of plasma, which is reduced to avoid imcompatibility. This collection normally contains about 8 to 8.5.times.10.sup.10 platelets. A donor normally gives approximately 10% of his/her platelets with no loss in clotting ability, although a larger number of platelets could be separated from the blood. These platelets must be used within five days of collection. [0007] Plateletpheresis, called apheresis, is a state of the art process by which platelets are separated [Haemonetics Component Collection System (CCS) and Multi Component System (Multi)(Haemonetics, Braintree, Mass.)]. This automated machine separates platelets from blood over a period of 1.5 to 2 hours (assuming 10% donation). This process is faster than traditional approaches and is completely automated and can be used for single or double platelet doses. Nevertheless, the process is slow relative to the patience of donors and is capable of improvement for the purity of the separated platelet fraction. [0008] Other procedures are also time consuming, often taking several hours, particularly when unused blood fractions are to be returned to the donor. For example, platelet donation make take several hours, as whole blood is removed from the donor, fractionated through centrifugation to obtain the platelets, and the remaining blood components are then injected back into the donor. This centrifugation process is also comparatively harsh, also can result in damage to a proportion of the harvested cells, effectively reducing the usable yield of the blood fractions. [0009] As a consequence, a need remains for a blood separation technique and apparatus which is continuous, has high throughput, provides time saving, and which causes negligible or minimal damage to the various blood components. In addition, such techniques should have further applicability to other biological or medical areas, such as for separations of cellular, viral, cell organelle, globular structures, colloidal suspensions, and other biological materials. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] The exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide for separating components in a mixture, such as separating the various blood components of whole blood into corresponding fractions, such as a platelet fraction, a red blood cell fraction, a white blood cell fraction, and a plasma fraction. The various embodiments of the present invention provide separation of components on a continuous basis, such as within a continuous, closed system, without the potential damage and contamination of prior art methods, particularly for fractionation of blood components. The continuous process of the present invention also provides significant time savings and higher throughput for blood fractionation. In addition, the various embodiments may also include additional means for separating and manipulating the components, particularly holographic optical manipulation and separation. [0011] An exemplary method of separating blood into components includes providing a first flow having a plurality of blood components; providing a second flow; contacting the first flow with the second flow to provide a first separation region; and differentially sedimenting a first blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components into the second flow while concurrently maintaining a second blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components in the first flow. The second flow having the first blood cellular component is then differentially removed from the first flow having the second blood cellular component. [0012] The various sedimentation steps of the present invention may be rate zonal or isopycnic. In addition, the first flow and the second flow are substantially non-turbulent, and may also be substantially laminar. [0013] In a selected embodiment, the first blood cellular component is a plurality of red blood cells and a plurality of white blood cells, and the second blood cellular component is a plurality of platelets. For the first blood cellular component, the plurality of white blood cells may be holographically separated from the plurality of red blood cells. Other holographic manipulations of the present invention include holographically removing a plurality of contaminants from the first flow, holographically separating biological debris from the first flow, and holographically separating a plurality of second blood cellular components from the first flow. [0014] Additional separation stages may also be included, with the exemplary method providing a third flow; contacting the first flow with the third flow to provide a second separation region; and differentially sedimenting the second blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components to sediment into the third flow while concurrently maintaining a third blood component of the plurality of blood components in the first flow. In selected embodiments, the second blood cellular component is a plurality of platelets and wherein the third blood component is plasma. [0015] A second exemplary method of separating a fluid mixture into constituent, non-motile components, in accordance with the present invention, includes: providing a substantially laminar first flow having the fluid mixture, the fluid mixture having a plurality of components, the plurality of components having a corresponding plurality of sedimentation rates; providing a substantially laminar second flow; contacting the first flow with the second flow to provide a first separation region, the first flow and the second flow having a substantially non-turbulent interface within the separation region; differentially sedimenting from the first flow a first component of the plurality of components into the second flow to form an enriched second flow and a depleted first flow, while concurrently maintaining a second component of the plurality of components in the first flow, the first component having a first sedimentation rate of the plurality of sedimentation rates and the second component having a second sedimentation rate of the plurality of sedimentation rates, wherein the first sedimentation rate is comparatively greater than the second sedimentation rate; differentially removing the enriched second flow from the depleted first flow; and holographically manipulating the second component in the depleted first flow. [0016] The second exemplary method may also include additional separation stages, such as a holographic separation, including: providing a third flow; contacting the depleted first flow with the third flow to provide a second separation region; and holographically trapping the second component and moving the second component from the depleted first flow into the third flow while concurrently maintaining a third component of the plurality of components in the depleted first flow. [0017] An exemplary apparatus embodiment of the invention for separating a fluid mixture into constituent, non-motile components includes: a first sorting channel having a first inlet for a first flow and a second inlet for a second flow; the first sorting channel further having a first outlet for the first flow and a second outlet for the second flow, the first sorting channel further having means to maintain the first flow and second flow substantially non-turbulent, the first sorting channel adapted to allow a first component in the first flow, of a plurality of components in the first flow, to sediment into the second flow to form an enriched second flow and a depleted first flow, while concurrently maintaining a second component of the plurality of components in the first flow; a second, optically transparent sorting channel having a first optical inlet coupled to the first outlet for the first flow and having a first optical outlet, the second, optically transparent sorting channel further having a second optical inlet for a third flow and a second optical outlet for the third flow; and a holographic optical trap coupled to the second, optically transparent sorting channel, the holographic optical trap adapted to generate a holographic optical trap to select and move the second component from the first flow into the third flow. [0018] Another apparatus or system for separating a plurality of components in a fluid comprises: an optically transparent sorting channel having a first inlet for a first flow and a second inlet for a second flow, the optically transparent sorting channel further having a first outlet for the first flow and a second outlet for the second flow; and a holographic optical trap system coupled to the optically transparent sorting channel, the holographic optical trap system adapted to generate a holographic optical trap to select and move a first component in the first flow, of a plurality of components in the first flow, into the second flow to form an enriched second flow and a depleted first flow, while a second component of the plurality of components is concurrently maintained in the first flow. [0019] Another method embodiment provides for separating a plurality of cells, comprising: providing a first flow having the plurality of cells; providing a second flow; contacting the first flow with the second flow to provide a first separation region; and differentially sedimenting a first cell of the plurality of cells into the second flow while concurrently maintaining a second cell of the plurality of cells in the first flow. The method generally also includes differentially removing the second flow having the first cell from the first flow having the second cell. The method may also provide for providing a third flow; contacting the first flow with the third flow to provide a second separation region; and differentially sedimenting the second cell of the plurality of cells into the third flow while concurrently maintaining a third cell of the plurality of cells in the first flow. In addition, a plurality of second cells may be holographically separated from the first flow, and a plurality of contaminants or biological debris may be holographically removed from the first flow. [0020] Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings. Continue reading about Multiple laminar flow-based rate zonal or isopycnic separation with holographic optical trapping of blood cells and other static components... 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